Blizzard has announced the start of the next Overwatch League season as well as future season changes.
The Overwatch League is now set to return to the Blizzard Arena in Los Angeles on February 14, 2019.
The new season will include the latest expansion teams for a total of 20 squads, with matches being organised to allow players more breaks between games.
The format for season two will see each of the 20 teams play 28 total matches, split over four stages with each stage lasting five weeks. This will significantly lighten the schedule for players who last season were required to play every week, sometimes with matches on consecutive days.
On top of that, the All-Star matches that took place after the inaugural season’s finals will now take place between stages two and three. This will create an extended break in the middle of the 2019 season.
The All-Star event will retain the Pacific versus Atlantic team set-up, with the eight new team being divided between the two divisions. The Atlantic division welcomes Atlanta, Paris, Toronto, and Washington, D.C. The Pacific division will receive Chengdu, Guangzhou, Hangzhou, and Vancouver.
Stage finals will take place after stage three, with the top eight teams from each stage entering a seeded playoff bracket. Depending on results, divisional winners will be seeded into the top two slots, followed by the next six teams in the standings.
For the postseason playoffs, each divisional champion and the next top four teams in the standings will qualify. In addition, two more teams will join based on the results of a play-in tournament following the fourth and final stage. The teams that place between seventh and twelfth in the standings will play in this last chance competition.
